OMG That was so difficult, and such a fundamental issue for me. My tongue did not want to stretch, and at first I couldn't hold the pencil at all! But after working through the video with you I can do it. It feels weird - but in a good way, like my tongue has been stretched for the first time in years. I thought it was loose before but it really wasn't. My tone on high notes has always been thin and I could feel the tension, but I didn't realise it was coming from the tongue, and I wouldn't have known what to do about it. Another great technique and a practical way to develop it - thank you so much for sharing this!
Wonderful! So happy your tried it! I'm glad you could feel a difference. It really is a game-changer for the high notes. I will run through entire songs with this technique just to double-check that my tongue is relaxed. Thanks for watching and for your comment :) All the best with your singing! Have a beautiful weekend.
Thanks so much for your videos! Is it ok if the tongue feels tense in this video because of, I'm assuming, how much of a stretch it is? It feels like it gets out of the way of the voice but my tongue feels pretty tired after a few notes of doing this, is it safe to assume this will get better with time as my tongue loses tension?
Good question... it depends how it feels to you. If at first your jaw is very tight... just a few minutes each day may help to relax the tongue. Listen to your body and see how it goes. We want a stretch in the tongue but we don't want it to be painful. If you find it very uncomforatble or hard, you can hold the pencil with your hand and let the tongue flop over the pencil with the tip of the tongue out of your month. This will allow you to get the tongue out of the way and you still watch it making sure it doesn't pull back. Hope this is helpful. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Unnecessary tongue tension can affect many parts of our singing. If the tongue is tight the vocal folds may not be able to vibrate as freely and that can affect the breath flow. Often times proper breath management can release unnecessary tension in the neck, jaw, tongue. Hope this helps. Thanks for your question. All the best with your singing.
Hello! As you know, there are many moving parts when creating sound with the voice. If possible, I suggest you work with a professional who could help you one-on-one to specifically problem solve for your voice. In a more general scope, I find that SOTV exercises done well, slides, mmmm's, nnnn's and ng's, uuuu's, can sooth the voice. Making sure the breath management and onset of the voice is balanced is important as well. Working in the middle range to find balance and then slowly working up and down taking into account the natural shifts that the larynx need to make to lengthen or shorten the vocal folds. I have many videos on my channel that talk about releasing tension, healthy vocal onset, breath and balance vowels. Perhaps the videos will help. You could also google speech language pathologist and see if you find some answers there as well. Wishing you all the best!
I had mixed feelings about this. On one hand, it was interesting hearing where my overall voice konked out going up; but on the other, the constant hassle of keeping the pen and tongue in place ADDED to tongue tension, and general tension as well. 😮
I hear you. There are a couple variations of this exercise that may be helpful... some people like to hold the pencil in place and flop their tongue over the pencil. They watch their tongue in the mirror, notice when it's retracting and try to keep it relaxed and flopped over while they sing. The other idea is to use a cloth napkin and gently hold the tongue while singing. You will be aware if the tongue retracts while singing. Hope this helps. All the best with your singing.
Hi Janette - the tongue is holding the pencil, not the teeth... although the tip of the tongue is behind the bottom front teeth. Let me know how it goes.
![Singing Lessons: Warm-up With Me on [gu] - How and Why It Works](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/sBGmnt7FwDc/mqdefault.jpg)
![Singing Lessons: Warm-up With Me on [gu] - How and Why It Works](/img/tr.png)
OMG That was so difficult, and such a fundamental issue for me. My tongue did not want to stretch, and at first I couldn't hold the pencil at all! But after working through the video with you I can do it. It feels weird - but in a good way, like my tongue has been stretched for the first time in years. I thought it was loose before but it really wasn't. My tone on high notes has always been thin and I could feel the tension, but I didn't realise it was coming from the tongue, and I wouldn't have known what to do about it. Another great technique and a practical way to develop it - thank you so much for sharing this!
Wonderful! So happy your tried it! I'm glad you could feel a difference. It really is a game-changer for the high notes. I will run through entire songs with this technique just to double-check that my tongue is relaxed. Thanks for watching and for your comment :) All the best with your singing! Have a beautiful weekend.
That really was incredibly eye opening to me. Thank you so much!
You are stunning, and this was so helpful! Thanks!
Fantastic video, thank you so much for all of the informations and for showing us the exercise
Thank you so much, I've just warmed up with the audio in your web page, i love it, it really helped me to connect.
Great! I am soooo glad! Thanks for letting me know :) All the best with your singing!
Mrs Leines........this tongue tension video is the best yet ....it works
Awesome! Good to hear. So glad it is helping :)
this video helped me a lot, just my mix voice to high E.thank you
Very helpful!!
You saved me. Thank you
Thank You Tricia.
Absolutely! Have a beautiful day :)
Excellent. One of the best videos on this topic.
So happy you found it helpful! Thanks for watching!
Thanks a lot ma'am
It helped me a lot
Love from India 🙏
Hello! Thank you so much for watching. So glad you found it helpful. All the best with your singing.
Thank you so much for this advice your the best
You are so welcome! Happy to help :)
This is what I've needed. Ty
I am so glad it helped! All the best with your singing :)
Thank you precious!!!
You are so welcome! Have a beautiful weekend!
Thank you so much. Take care! Jacqui
You are welcome! Have a beautiful weekend!
thank you again!
You are so welcome! Have a great weekend!
Thanks so much for your videos! Is it ok if the tongue feels tense in this video because of, I'm assuming, how much of a stretch it is? It feels like it gets out of the way of the voice but my tongue feels pretty tired after a few notes of doing this, is it safe to assume this will get better with time as my tongue loses tension?
Is this exercise also good for brass players?
So sorry. I have no idea.
How many days this exercise. and how many minutes please tell me
Good question... it depends how it feels to you. If at first your jaw is very tight... just a few minutes each day may help to relax the tongue. Listen to your body and see how it goes. We want a stretch in the tongue but we don't want it to be painful. If you find it very uncomforatble or hard, you can hold the pencil with your hand and let the tongue flop over the pencil with the tip of the tongue out of your month. This will allow you to get the tongue out of the way and you still watch it making sure it doesn't pull back. Hope this is helpful. Let me know if you have any other questions.
is tongue only affecting the timbre / resonance or can it affect breathing / breath support too?
Unnecessary tongue tension can affect many parts of our singing. If the tongue is tight the vocal folds may not be able to vibrate as freely and that can affect the breath flow. Often times proper breath management can release unnecessary tension in the neck, jaw, tongue. Hope this helps. Thanks for your question. All the best with your singing.
It’s so tight the back of my neck is seizing up lol 😬
This bad habit is awful. Muchas gracias ❤
How to cure phonatory gap And hoarseness of voice?
Hello! As you know, there are many moving parts when creating sound with the voice. If possible, I suggest you work with a professional who could help you one-on-one to specifically problem solve for your voice. In a more general scope, I find that SOTV exercises done well, slides, mmmm's, nnnn's and ng's, uuuu's, can sooth the voice. Making sure the breath management and onset of the voice is balanced is important as well. Working in the middle range to find balance and then slowly working up and down taking into account the natural shifts that the larynx need to make to lengthen or shorten the vocal folds. I have many videos on my channel that talk about releasing tension, healthy vocal onset, breath and balance vowels. Perhaps the videos will help. You could also google speech language pathologist and see if you find some answers there as well. Wishing you all the best!
I had mixed feelings about this. On one hand, it was interesting hearing where my overall voice konked out going up; but on the other, the constant hassle of keeping the pen and tongue in place ADDED to tongue tension, and general tension as well. 😮
I hear you. There are a couple variations of this exercise that may be helpful... some people like to hold the pencil in place and flop their tongue over the pencil. They watch their tongue in the mirror, notice when it's retracting and try to keep it relaxed and flopped over while they sing. The other idea is to use a cloth napkin and gently hold the tongue while singing. You will be aware if the tongue retracts while singing. Hope this helps. All the best with your singing.
Is the pencil held by the teeth as well as the tongue
Hi Janette - the tongue is holding the pencil, not the teeth... although the tip of the tongue is behind the bottom front teeth. Let me know how it goes.